Meet Wolfgang Puck :: Biography Wolfgang moves to Los Angeles and begins working at Ma Maison. Wolfgang creates his first restaurant, Spago, an instant success and culinary phenomenon. Wolfgang Puck Catering (WPC) formed to bring a new level of innovation and inspiration to special event catering. His Emmy Award-winning television series, "Wolfgang Puck," debuted on The Food Network. BIOGRAPHY The name Wolfgang Puck is synonymous with the best of restaurant hospitality and the ultimate in all aspects of the culinary arts. The famous chef has built an empire that encompasses three separate Wolfgang Puck entities: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. Puck began cooking at his mother's side as a child. She was a chef in the Austrian town where he was born, and with her encouragement, Wolfgang began his formal training at fourteen years of age. As a young chef he worked in some of France's greatest restaurants, including Maxim's in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and the Michelin 3-starred L'Oustau de Baumanière in Provence.

At the age of 24, Wolfgang took the advice of a friend and left Europe for the United States. His first job was at the restaurant La Tour in Indianapolis, where he worked from 1973 to 1975. Wolfgang came to Los Angeles in 1975 and very quickly garnered the attention of the Hollywood elite as chef and eventually part owner of Ma Maison in West Hollywood. His dynamic personality and culinary brilliance that bridged tradition and invention made Ma Maison a magnet for the rich and famous, with Wolfgang as the star attraction. He had an innate understanding of the potential for California cuisine, and was pivotal in its rise to national attention during the late 1970s. Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group From Ma Maison, Wolfgang went on to create his first flagship restaurant, Spago, originally located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. From its opening day in 1982 Spago was an instant success and culinary phenomenon. His early signature dishes, such as haute cuisine pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar, and Sonoma baby lamb with braised greens and rosemary, put him and Spago on the gourmet map, not just in Los Angeles but throughout the world.

Wolfgang and Spago earned many accolades during its popular eighteen years in West Hollywood, including winning the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, twice, in 1991 and 1998, and the James Beard Foundation Award for Restaurant of the Year in 1994. Wolfgang is the only chef to have won the Outstanding Chef of the Year Award two times. In 1983, following the success of Spago, Puck went on to open Chinois on Main in Santa Monica. His early exposure to Southern California's multicultural population intrigued him, inspiring him to fuse the Asian flavors and products of Koreatown, Chinatown, and Thaitown with his French- and California-based cuisine in a fine dining setting. Chinois on Main brought diners a fresh and imaginative Asian-fusion menu that laid the groundwork for fusion cooking in America. In 1989, Wolfgang opened his third restaurant, Postrio, in the Prescott Hotel off San Francisco's Union Square. Postrio also draws upon the multi-ethnic nature of its surroundings. Its contemporary American cuisine, with its emphasis on local ingredients, continues to draw rave reviews in Northern California's highly competitive culinary market.

In 1997, Wolfgang moved Spago to an elegant setting on Cañon Drive in Beverly Hills. His Beverly Hills menu blazed new ground, with a combination of updated Spago classics and newly conceived items created by the award-winning talents of Managing Partner/Executive Chef Lee Hefter and Executive Pastry Chef Sherry Yard. The seasonal menu also draws from Wolfgang's favorite childhood dishes, offering a selection of Austrian specialties such as Wienerschnitzel and Kaiserschmarren. Spago Beverly Hills recently garnered two coveted Michelin Stars, one of only three Los Angeles restaurants to achieve this accolade. In 2006, Wolfgang opened CUT, a sleek, contemporary steakhouse at the acclaimed Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. After only one year, CUT earned a prestigious Michelin star. Wolfgang has changed the way Americans cook and eat by mixing formal French techniques and Asian- and California-influenced aesthetics with the highest quality ingredients.

He also has changed the face of dining in cities throughout the nation, first in Los Angeles, then in Las Vegas, where he was the first star chef to create a contemporary fine dining restaurant, paving the way for other celebrated chefs and the city's metamorphosis into a dining destination. After opening Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars in 1992, Wolfgang went on to open five additional restaurants including Chinois in the Forum Shops at Caesars in 1998, Postrio at The Venetian and Trattoria del Lupo in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in 1999, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at MGM Grand in 2004 and CUT at The Palazzo in 2008. Since 2001, Wolfgang and his Fine Dining Group have opened restaurants across the United States from Atlantic City (Wolfgang Puck American Grille at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in 2006) to Maui (Spago at the Four Seasons Resort in 2001).

These also include The Source in Washington, DC (2007), Wolfgang Puck Grille at MGM Grand Detroit (2007), Spago at The Ritz Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Colorado (2007), Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck at Reunion Tower in Dallas (2009) and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at L.A. Live (2009). Wolfgang Puck Catering Wolfgang formed Wolfgang Puck Catering (WPC) in May 1998, alongside partner Carl Schuster. The company brings a new level of innovation and inspiration to restaurant and special event catering and foodservice management for cultural, corporate and entertainment venues across the country. WPC is renowned for catering such high profile events as the annual Governors Ball, where Puck has been honored to serve as official chef for the post-Academy Awards® celebrity banquet for the past 14 years, as well as the GRAMMY awards celebration, the ESPY awards, American Music Awards, presidential galas and fundraisers. WPC is also responsible for catering services at premier locations in thirteen major markets including L.A.

LIVE, Sony Pictures Studios, Hollywood & Highland, and Pacific Design Center (Los Angeles); Union Station, Reunion Tower, and Nasher Sculpture Center (Dallas); Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Chicago GSB Gleacher Center, and Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies (Chicago); St. Louis Art Museum; Museum of Science and Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston); Walker Art Center (Minneapolis); Indianapolis Museum of Art; Benaroya Hall (Seattle); Newseum (Washington, DC); Springs Preserve (Las Vegas); Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta); and La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego). WPC's strategic partnership with Compass Group has fueled its dramatic growth over the last four years, including joint ventures with sister company Restaurant Associates and a national concession agreement with concert promoter Live Nation. Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. is a privately held corporation that includes a rapidly growing franchise of casual Wolfgang Puck Bistro restaurants, fast-casual Wolfgang Puck Express restaurants, consumer products, book publishing, television and Internet programming, and other licensing and merchandising projects. In 1991, Wolfgang launched a chain of fast-casual restaurants called Wolfgang Puck Express.

The restaurants emphasize freshness and quality, preparing food fresh-to-order at affordable prices. They feature Wolfgang Puck's signature hand-crafted pizzas, a variety of pastas, sandwiches, soups, fresh salads and Wolfgang's classics such as Chinois Chicken™ Salad, Teriyaki-Glazed Salmon and Rotisserie Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Express restaurants are located in more than 80 locations in major urban and suburban retail centers and airports throughout the United States, Canada and Japan. Concurrently with his restaurant and catering operations, Wolfgang Puck has made a name for himself as a communicator. He has written six cookbooks and has been a regular guest on ABC's Good Morning America since 1986, the year he also produced his first instructional cooking video, Spago Cooking with Wolfgang Puck. His Emmy Award-winning television series, "Wolfgang Puck," debuted on The Food Network in 2000 and aired for five seasons. Wolfgang also has made guest appearances on a multitude of television shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Ellen De Generes Show, Entertainment Tonight, E!

Entertainment Television, Hollywood Squares, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Frasier, The Simpsons, The History Channel, Wheel of Fortune, Las Vegas, Shark and What's My Line. In 2001, the A&E Network featured the life of Wolfgang Puck on their popular Biography series. Wolfgang's syndicated newspaper column, "Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen," appears in 30 newspapers in the United States and Canada, reaching more than 5.3 million people each week. The chef is known to tens of thousands of television viewers who see him regularly on Home Shopping Network, where he demonstrates recipes using his growing line of Wolfgang Puck branded housewares. These include stainless steel cookware, small kitchen electrics such as panini grills, food processors, blenders and electric grills, flatware, cutlery, bakeware, and other kitchen gadgets and tools. In addition to his branded housewares, Wolfgang Puck's consumer products include a wide range of foods. He launched his first line of frozen food in 1987 to meet his customers' desire to enjoy Spago-quality food at home.

Wolfgang Puck All-Natural Frozen Pizzas and Appetizers, All-Natural and Organic Wolfgang Puck Soups, Stocks and Broths, Estate Grown Organic Coffees and Ready to Drink Coffees and Wolfgang Puck All-Natural No-Stick Cooking and Baking sprays are available at grocery stores nationwide. Gelson's supermarkets in Southern California offer Wolfgang Puck fresh-packaged foods, and Wolfgang Puck coffee blends are sold through Amenity Services to hotels, resorts, local market office distribution and websites. Community Relationships Wolfgang is actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations, including his own Wolfgang Puck-Barbara Lazaroff Charitable Foundation. Each year since 1983 the foundation hosts the annual American Wine & Food Festival, which has benefited the Meals-on-Wheels programs of Los Angeles and has raised more than $13 million over the past two decades. The Harvard Business School of Southern California presented additional funds to Meals-on-Wheels when they presented Wolfgang with their honored Business Statesman of the Year award in 2001.

Wolfgang is also a major supporter of the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer's Association, Ireland Cancer Center at University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Animal Foundation, the Gateway Green, the Special Olympics, the Cystic Fibrosis Society, the Race to Erase MS, the Carousel of Hope Ball for the Children's Diabetes Foundation and the Fire and Ice Ball for Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program. Wolfgang's Eat, Love, Live™ (WELL) Central to all of Wolfgang Puck's endeavors is his Wolfgang's Eat, Love, Live ™ (WELL) philosophy. This stands for culinary passion for eating and dining WELL, which means a commitment to provide food made with only the freshest and most natural and organic ingredients available, to celebrate local farmers and seasonal ingredients, and to use only humanely raised animal products.p> Wolfgang Puck lives in Los Angeles, with his wife, Gelila, and has four sons, Cameron, Byron, Oliver, and Alexander. Loading The Venetian® Las Vegas: Wolfgang Puck | Celebrity Chef at The Venetian® Las Vegas View Details Chef Biography The name Wolfgang Puck is synonymous with the best of restaurant hospitality and the ultimate in all aspects of the culinary arts.

The famous chef has built an empire that encompasses three separate Wolfgang Puck entities: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. Puck began cooking at his mother’s side as a child. She was a chef in the Austrian town where he was born, and with her encouragement, Wolfgang started his formal training at fourteen years of age. As a young chef he worked in some of France’s greatest restaurants, including Maxim’s in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and the Michelin 3-starred L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence. At the age of 24, Wolfgang took the advice of a friend and left Europe for the United States. His first job was at the restaurant La Tour in Indianapolis, where he worked from 1973 to 1975. Wolfgang came to Los Angeles in 1975 and very quickly garnered the attention of the Hollywood elite as chef and eventually part owner of Ma Maison in West Hollywood. His dynamic personality and culinary brilliance that bridged tradition and invention made Ma Maison a magnet for the rich and famous, with Wolfgang as the star attraction.

He had an innate understanding of the potential for California cuisine, and was pivotal in its rise to national attention during the late 1970s. Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group From Ma Maison, Wolfgang went on to create his first flagship restaurant, Spago, originally located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. From its opening day in 1982, Spago was an instant success and culinary phenomenon. His early signature dishes, such as haute cuisine pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar, and Sonoma baby lamb with braised greens and rosemary, put him and Spago on the gourmet map, not just in Los Angeles but throughout the world. Wolfgang and Spago earned many accolades during its popular eighteen years in West Hollywood, including winning the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, twice, in 1991 and 1998, and the James Beard Foundation Award for Restaurant of the Year in 1994. Wolfgang is the only chef to have won the Outstanding Chef of the Year Award multiple times. In 1983, following the success of Spago, Puck went on to open Chinois on Main in Santa Monica.

His early exposure to Southern California’s multicultural population intrigued him, inspiring him to fuse the Asian flavors and products of Koreatown, Chinatown, and Thaitown with his French- and California-based cuisine in a fine dining setting. Chinois on Main brings diners a fresh and imaginative Asian-fusion menu that laid the groundwork for fusion cooking in America. In 1989, Wolfgang opened his third restaurant, Postrio, in the Prescott Hotel off San Francisco’s Union Square. Postrio also drew upon the multi-ethnic nature of its surroundings. In 1997, Wolfgang moved Spago to an elegant setting on Cañon Drive in Beverly Hills. His menu blazed new ground, with a combination of updated Spago classics and newly conceived items created by the award-winning talents of Managing Partner/Executive Chef Lee Hefter. The seasonal menu drew inspiration from Wolfgang’s favorite childhood dishes, offering a selection of Austrian specialties such as Wienerschnitzel and Kaiserschmarren. Spago Beverly Hills garnered two coveted Michelin Stars, one of only three Los Angeles restaurants to achieve this accolade. In 2012, Wolfgang fearlessly transformed Spago through a complete renovation in both menu and design.

A new more modern concept steps to the forefront of the menu at Spago, where guests can find a shift to smaller plates, which Wolfgang believes is reflective of the way people enjoy dining today. In 2006, Wolfgang opened CUT, a sleek, contemporary steakhouse at the acclaimed Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. After only one year, CUT earned a prestigious Michelin star among numerous other top accolades including Restaurant of the Year by noted food critic John Mariani. Wolfgang has changed the way Americans cook and eat by mixing classic French techniques combined with California and Asian influences and the freshest and finest ingredients. He also has changed the face of dining in cities throughout the nation, first in Los Angeles, then in Las Vegas, where he was the first star chef to create a contemporary fine dining restaurant, paving the way for other celebrated chefs and the city’s metamorphosis into a dining destination.

After opening Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars in 1992, Wolfgang went on to open five additional restaurants in the city including Postrio Bar & Grill at The Venetian in 1999, Lupo at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in 1999, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at MGM Grand in 2004, CUT at The Palazzo in 2008 and in 2010, Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina, located at The Shops at Crystals, the spectacular 500,000-square-foot retail, entertainment and dining district in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Since 2001, Wolfgang and his Fine Dining Group have opened restaurants across the United States from Atlantic City (Wolfgang Puck American Grille at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in 2006) to Maui (Spago at the Four Seasons Resort in 2001).

These also include The Source in Washington, DC (2007), Wolfgang Puck Steak and Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina at MGM Grand Detroit (2012), Spago at The Ritz Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Colorado (2007), Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck at Reunion Tower in Dallas (2009), Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at L.A. Live (2009) and WP24 by Wolfgang Puck at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles (2010). In 2010, Puck took the Fine Dining Group international with the opening of CUT at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. In September 2011, Puck opened his first European venture, CUT in London at the new 45 Park Lane from The Dorchester Collection and in October, Puck furthered his relationship with The Dorchester Collection by overseeing the food and beverage operations at the historic Hotel Bel-Air including a new restaurant, “Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air,” plus in-room dining, catering and events.

In spring 2014, Puck made his first foray into the Middle East with the opening of CUT at The Address Downtown Dubai. A number of new fine dining restaurants are in development in Europe, Asia and the Middle East as well as two in the United States, all of which will open by the end of 2015. Wolfgang Puck Catering Wolfgang formed Wolfgang Puck Catering (WPC) in May 1998, alongside partner Carl Schuster. The company brings a new level of innovation and inspiration to special event and contract dining services for cultural, corporate and entertainment venues across the country. Under the leadership of Chef-Partner Matt Bencivenga, WPC offers a restaurant-quality experience in a special event setting for such high profile events as the annual Governors Ball, where Puck has been honored to serve as official chef for the post-Academy Awards® celebrity banquet for nearly 20 years, as well as the ESPY awards, film premieres, presidential galas and fundraisers. WPC also is responsible for operating iconic cultural and architectural venues in major markets including L.A.

LIVE, Sony Pictures Studios, Hollywood & Highland Center and Dolby Theatre, and Pacific Design Center (Los Angeles); Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Union Station, Reunion Tower, Nasher Sculpture Center and AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas); Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Chicago Gleacher Center, and Venue Six10 (Chicago); Museum of Science and Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston); ACE Center (Philadelphia); Benaroya Hall, Showbox Market and SoDo, and EMP|SFM (Seattle); Newseum (Washington, DC); The Sunset Room (National Harbor MD); Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta); Walt Disney Family Museum (San Francisco); and Honda Center (Anaheim). WPC’s strategic partnership with Compass Group has fueled its dramatic growth since 2004, including joint ventures with sister company Restaurant Associates and a national concession agreement with concert promoter Live Nation. Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.

is a privately held corporation that includes a rapidly growing portfolio of company-owned and franchised locations of casual Wolfgang Puck Bistro restaurants and fast-casual Wolfgang Puck Express restaurants, consumer products including Wolfgang Puck branded packaged foods and beverages, book publishing, and other licensing and merchandising projects. Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar is Puck’s newest casual concept which opened its first location in Charlotte, NC in May 2012, followed by a second location in Greensboro, NC and a third location opened in Palm Desert, California in early 2013. The restaurant features a new and distinctive Italian-influenced menu with Wolfgang’s unique twist. Featuring delicious soups, salads, appetizers, pastas, and grilled items, the menu centers around nearly 20 of Wolfgang’s thin and crispy pizzas made with a new, artisan dough. Wolfgang Puck Bistro is a contemporary casual restaurant where the guiding principle is “Simple is Delicious.” Simple as in farm fresh food expressed in the form of extraordinary pizzas, salads, artisan sandwiches and daily Chef’s Additions of fish, pasta and meat.

The menu rotates new, seasonal specials throughout the year, highlighting the local produce of the season and includes a specially priced boutique wine list of more than two dozen selections. In 1991, Wolfgang launched a chain of fast-casual restaurants, now called Wolfgang Puck Express. The Express restaurants, which also subscribe to the “Simple is Delicious” principle, use only the finest ingredients to prepare its fresh-to-order items in just minutes for people on the go. The menu features Wolfgang’s signature pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, soups, fresh salads, including Wolfgang’s famous Chinois™ Chicken Salad, and Wolfgang’s classics at affordable prices. Today, Wolfgang Puck Express boasts more than 80 locations in major urban and suburban retail centers, convention centers, airports, universities and supermarkets throughout the United States, Canada and Japan. Concurrently with his restaurant and catering operations, Wolfgang Puck has made a name for himself as a communicator. He has been a regular guest on ABC’s Good Morning Americasince 1986, the year he also produced his first instructional cooking video, Spago Cooking with Wolfgang Puck.

His Emmy Award-winning television series, “Wolfgang Puck,” debuted on The Food Network in 2000 and aired for five seasons. Wolfgang also has made guest appearances on a multitude of television shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Ellen De Generes Show, Entertainment Tonight, E! Entertainment Television, Hollywood Squares, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Frasier, The Simpsons, The History Channel, Wheel of Fortune, Las Vegas, Shark and What’s My Line. In 2001, the A&E Network featured the life of Wolfgang Puck on their popular Biography series. Wolfgang has written seven cookbooks including his latest book, “Wolfgang Puck Makes it Healthy” which debuted in spring 2014. Wolfgang’s syndicated newspaper column, “Wolfgang Puck’s Kitchen,” appears in 30 newspapers in the United States and Canada, reaching more than 5.3 million people each week. The chef is known to millions of television viewers who see him regularly on Home Shopping Network, where he demonstrates recipes using his growing line of Wolfgang Puck branded housewares.

These include stainless steel cookware, small kitchen electrics such as panini grills, food processors, blenders and electric grills, flatware, cutlery, bakeware, and other kitchen gadgets and tools. In addition to his branded housewares, Wolfgang Puck’s consumer products include a wide range of foods. He launched his first line of frozen food in 1987 to meet his customers’ desire to enjoy Spago-quality food at home. Wolfgang Puck All-Natural Frozen Pizzas and Appetizers; All-Natural and Organic Wolfgang Puck Soups; All-Natural Jarred Italian Sauces; Estate Grown Organic Coffees and Ready to Drink Coffees and Culinary Iced Coffees; and Wolfgang Puck Refrigerated Entrees. Gelson’s supermarkets in Southern California offer Wolfgang Puck fresh-packaged foods, and Wolfgang Puck coffee blends are sold through Amenity Services to hotels, resorts, local market office distribution and websites.

Community Relationships Wolfgang is actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations including the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer’s Association, Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Animal Foundation, the Gateway Green, the Special Olympics, the Cystic Fibrosis Society, the Race to Erase MS, the Carousel of Hope Ball for the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Fire and Ice Ball for Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program. Wolfgang’s Eat, Love, Live ™ (WELL) Central to all of Wolfgang Puck’s endeavors is his Wolfgang’s Eat, Love, Live ™ (WELL) philosophy. This stands for culinary passion for eating and dining WELL, which means a commitment to provide food made with only the freshest and most natural and organic ingredients available, to celebrate local farmers and seasonal ingredients, and to use only humanely raised animal products. Wolfgang Puck lives in Los Angeles, with his wife, Gelila, and has four sons, Cameron, Byron, Oliver, and Alexander. Cookbooks Chef Puck has written seven popular cookbooks, designed to share his culinary talents and signature dishes with home chefs who want to create the perfect dining experience at home.

Following are a list of cookbooks written by Wolfgang Puck: "Modern French Cooking” (1981, Houghton Mifflin, New York) "The Wolfgang Puck Cookbook" (1986, Random House, New York) "Adventures in the Kitchen with Wolfgang Puck" (1991, Random House, New York) “Pizza, Pasta & More" (2000, Random House, New York) “Live, Love, Eat!” (2002, Random House, New York) “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy” (2004, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville) “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy” 10th Anniversary Special Edition (2008, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville).

“Wolfgang Puck Makes it Healthy” (2014, Grand Central, New York) Awards 2012 Chef of the Year Award, British GQ “Men of the Year” Awards 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, James Beard Foundation 2012 Pioneer of American Cuisine, Culinary Institute of America 2011, 2010 AAA Four Diamond rating, CUT Las Vegas 2009 Inductee into Nation’s Restaurant News MenuMasters Hall of Fame 2008 Outstanding Restaurateur nomination, James Beard Foundation 2008 “Chef of the Year” award, Culinary Institute of America 2008 Michelin Guide’s Two Star rating, Spago Beverly Hills 2008 Michelin Guide’s One Star rating, CUT Beverly Hills 2007 Vanguard Award, Spago Beverly Hills, Angeleno magazine 2007 Fine Dining Legend Award, Nation’s Restaurant News 2006 “Restaurant of the Year,” CUT, Esquire 2005 Outstanding Service Award, Spago Beverly Hills, James Beard Foundation 2004 “Keep Memory Alive” Tribute to Wolfgang Puck, Alzheimer’s Foundation

 2003 “Wolfgang Puck” Food Network television program receives Emmy for Best Direction - Service Show 2002 “Wolfgang Puck” Food Network television program receives Emmy for Outstanding Service Show 2002 Visionary Award, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce 2000 Best Restaurant, Spago Beverly Hills, Food & Wine magazine 1998 Honorary Doctor of Culinary Arts, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI 1998 Outstanding Chef of the Year, James Beard Foundation 1995 Salute to Excellence Award, National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation 1994 Outstanding Restaurant of the Year, Spago Hollywood, James Beard Foundation 1991 Outstanding Chef of the Year, James Beard Foundation Official Oscars chef Wolfgang Puck born - Jul 08, 1949 - HISTORY.com Official Oscars chef Wolfgang Puck born Share this: Official Oscars chef Wolfgang Puck born Author Official Oscars chef Wolfgang Puck born URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1949, Wolfgang Puck, the celebrity chef and official caterer for the Academy Awards Governors Ball, is born in Austria.

Puck, whose mother was a hotel chef, began his culinary training as a teenager and worked in top restaurants in France before moving to the United States at age 24 in 1973. After a stint at a restaurant in Indiana, Puck relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s and became chef and co-owner of the popular Ma Maison. In 1981, he published his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen, and the following year opened his restaurant Spago, on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Spago became famous for its gourmet pizza (which featured such toppings as caviar and smoked salmon) and its celebrity clientele. Puck went on to open Spago restaurants in locations such as Chicago, Tokyo, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills. His empire grew to include non-Spago restaurants, as well as a line of frozen foods, soups, cooking products and cookbooks. A winner of the prestigious James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, Puck has also been a frequent presence on TV, demonstrating cooking techniques on talk shows like Good Morning, America and making cameo appearances on programs such as Las Vegas.

His eponymous cooking show on the Food Network won two consecutive Emmy Awards. In Hollywood, Puck is famous for catering the Governors Ball, the star-studded official post-Oscars party that is attended by Academy Award winners, nominees, presenters and performers. The first Governors Ball was held on March 26, 1958, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, following the 30th annual Oscars. Since 2002, the festivities have been hosted in the Grand Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center, a shopping, hotel and entertainment complex that includes the Kodak Theatre, which opened in November 2001 as the first permanent home of the Academy Awards show. Puck’s company is also the official provider of food and beverage services for the Kodak Theatre. In the past, his lavish menus for the Governors Ball have included such items as gold-dusted chocolate Oscars. Related Videos Inside Dish on How Wolfgang Puck Rose to Chef Stardom Culinary Careers Chef Wolfgang Puck’s Culinary Empire Wolfgang Puck’s appetite for the culinary arts was fed in the early days, cooking at his mother’s side in his home country of Austria.

Mom was a chef herself, so once she recognized that Wolfgang’s passion for food was genuine, she encouraged him to begin his formal chef’s training at the tender age of 14 years. His early work in France exposed him to the culinary tradition in restaurants like Maxims, in Paris and the Michelin 3-star eatery, L’oustau de Baumaniere in Provence. After a chef stint in prestigious Monaco, Puck was advised to test the U.S. market with his now well-honed culinary point of view. As a 24 year-old chef, whose star was clearly rising, he moved to the United States in 1973. Chef Puck landed in Indianapolis, where he worked for a couple years as executive chef at La Tour restaurant. The pivotal move that defines his career - as most American’s know it, occurred in 1975, when he took his standout talent to Los Angeles. First as chef, then partner at Ma Maison in Hollywood, Puck exploited his natural charisma alongside the superlative food he offered there. Puck’s work through the seventies essential defined ‘California cuisine’, and cemented his recognizable image as chef to the stars.

Sophisticated, seasonal West Coast cuisine continued as his bread and butter when he opened his flagship restaurant, Spago, in 1982. The fine dining restaurant remains a highly regarded destination for the rich and famous. Spago Beverly Hills still hosts some of the hottest annual invite-only post-Oscar parties, and other exclusive events. For chefs on the rise, working under Puck at Spago is a coveted resume entry that has led to noteworthy careers and to the spread of Chef Puck’s infectious culinary point of view. His brand is far-reaching and diversified, with a longevity that is enjoyed by only a handful of his contemporaries. Wolfgang Puck Food Company Puck’s company motto: “Eat, Love, Live ” could be the mantra for a generation of chefs and foodies. He is a pioneer in the celebrity chef realm – one of the originals. With nearly two dozen restaurants, and countless Wolgang Puck Express locations, his brand management employs three distinct culinary corporations to stay on top of daily operations: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.

Wolfgang Puck Catering A crew of top restaurant managers, financial gurus, and accomplished chefs act as partners to administer Puck’s enterprises, which are now international in scope and include franchise businesses. Chef Puck’s brand extends well beyond food service, to include trademarked WP retail products like: Cookbooks that tackle French cooking, rustic California-inspired pizzas and other simple dishes possessing a sophisticated edge. Popular hard lines like cookware and other kitchen tools that elevate home cooking for serious foodies. Select variety of food products like soups and pizzas, sold in grocery stores and gourmet shops across the country. Wolfgang Puck’s Celebrity For culinary students, Wolfgang Puck’s rise to fame is an excellent case study in determination and perseverance. His ability to exploit the intangibles like charisma, vitality, and chef branding illustrates the segment of a chef’s education that occurs outside the classroom. By working his way into the hearts of consumers (while his food was getting into their stomachs) he endeared himself to a wide cross section of people who seem to have an insatiable appetite for his quirky persona.

A talent born in his Austrian childhood kitchen, was honed through on-the-job training at some of the world’s finest restaurants, then refined into a unique culinary outlook that pairs perfectly with his impish appeal. Brilliance? Serendipity? Likely a combination of both, but for culinary students: an unquestionable success story to be emulated. Catering to the Hollywood elite has probably facilitated Puck’s access to media fame, but he is ultimately responsible for a celebrity profile that includes appearances on mainstream TV shows like Frasier, Las Vegas, Tales from the Crypt, and American Idol. Puck’s contemporaries include TV chefs like Child and Pepin , so he is not a new-school Food Network product. He has appeared on the network though, on Iron Chef Masters and Cooking Class with Wolgang Puck. ( ) He is/was also a spokesperson for the state of California, appearing in promotional commercials alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cuisine and Recognition Puck’s cuisine embraces a diverse range of influences. Some dishes are very sophisticated and elegant, while others are simple and rustic. His most famous restaurant, Spago, still embodies clean California-inspired seasonal cuisine.

( ) Other ventures, like Wolfgang Puck Bistro restaurants, straddle the line between full-service and fast casual. His signature rustic pizzas and classic sandwiches – interpreted with Chef Puck’s eye toward quality and freshness, cater to a crowd of daily diners who appreciate meals that go beyond the formulaic fast-casual box stores that dominate many markets. ( ) The proof is in the pudding for chefs whose brand is embraced and sustained by hungry diners, but the accolades don’t stop there for Wolfgang Puck. His flagship eatery, Spago Beverly Hills, has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation for Outstanding Service (2005), and as Restaurant of the Year in 1993. As a nod to his celebrity status, Puck also earned a Daytime Emmy for his show Wolfgang Puck. Find A Local Culinary School Today! Famous Chefs Wolfgang Puck Country - Wolfgang Puck Net Worth Wolfgang Puck Country Read more... Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million. Wolfgang Puck was born in Austria and has an estimated net worth of $75 million dollars.

An internationally famous chef, restaurateur, businessman, author, and actor, Wolfgang Puck oversees a vast cooking empi. Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born... Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million. Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million. Wolfgang Puck was born in Austria and has an estimated net worth of $75 million dollars. An internationally famous chef, restaurateur, businessman, author, and actor, Wolfgang Puck oversees a vast cooking empi Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions. He was born to Maria Worth and a butcher, who abandoned her before their child's birth. In 1956, Maria married Josef Puck, who adopted Puck. The marriage produced another son and two daughters. Puck learned cooking from his mother, who sometimes worked as a pastry chef.

He trained as an apprentice under Raymond Thuilier at L'Oustau de Baumani`ere in Les Baux-de-Provence, at Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and at Maxim's Paris before moving to the United States in 1973 at age 25. After two years at La Tour in Indianapolis, Puck moved to Los Angeles to become chef and part owner at Ma Maison restaurant. Following the 1981 publication of his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen... Chef Wolfgang Puck - Spago Restaurant Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Specialty: California, French, and fusion cuisine Best known for his vast restaurant empire, Wolfgang Puck has had a profound influence on American and international dining. With three separate divisions, Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, chef Puck's culinary holdings include sophisticated dining locations, a catering service, and a franchise of casual restaurants, consumer products, and media projects. Most Popular Puck was born in an Austrian town, where he began cooking alongside his mother at a young age. At age 14, Puck began his culinary training and worked in some of the best restaurants in France.

Ten years later, the young chef moved to the United States, where he began his first job at LaTour, a restaurant in Indianapolis. In 1975, Puck moved to Los Angeles, and he gained immediate attention from the media as chef and then part-owner of Ma Maison in West Hollywood. From there he created his first restaurant, Spago, also located in West Hollywood. Puck's now famous dishes, such as his gourmet pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar, earned the chef a degree of notoriety. Spago and Puck received numerous accolades, including two James Beard awards for Outstanding Chef of the Year in 1991, and Restaurant of the Year in 1994. After Spago moved to Beverly Hills in 1997, it received two Michelin Stars, one of only three Los Angeles restaurants to receive this honor. Puck then opened Chinois, in which he experimented with a fusion of Asian flavors, and Postrio, taking inspiration from the melting pot of San Francisco. From there, Puck has introduced 13 additional fine dining restaurants.

Launched in 1998, his catering service is the official caterer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual Governor's Ball. In 1991, Puck opened a chain of Wolfgang Puck Bistros, which offer his signature pizzas and other dishes at affordable prices. He has written six cookbooks, made numerous television appearances, and has had his own television show on the Food Network. Puck is also involved with many philanthropic activities. His main endeavor is Wolfgang's Eat, Love, Live (WELL). This is a commitment to provide food made from the healthiest, freshest, most natural, and organic products possible. Wolfgang Puck lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Gelila, and four sons, Cameron, Byron, Oliver, and Alexander.

Recipes: Wolfgang Puck sells his Beverly Hills mansion for $8.5 million | Daily Mail Online Next Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck puts his plush Beverly Hills $8.5m mansion up for sale - and just wait until you see the kitchen The property is nestled in the heart of Beverly Hills, California and is described as 'classic, private, and chic' It is 6,025 square feet, with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms and stunning interiors throughout the home Puck, a 66-year-old celebrity chef was born in Austria and moved to America in 1973 when he was 24 The celebrity chef, 66, has a net worth of $75 million and is married to designer Gelila Assefa and has four children Wolfgang Puck | Top Chef Wolfgang Puck Shows Top Chef The name Wolfgang Puck is synonymous with the best of restaurant hospitality and the ultimate in all aspects of the culinary arts. The famous chef has built an empire that encompasses three separate Wolfgang Puck entities: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. Puck began cooking at his mother's side as a child.

She was a chef in the Austrian town where he was born, and with her encouragement, Wolfgang began his formal training at 14 years of age. As a young chef he worked in some of France's greatest restaurants, including Maxim's in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and the Michelin 3-starred L'Oustau de Baumanière in Provence. At the age of 24, Wolfgang took the advice of a friend and left Europe for the United States. His first job was at the restaurant La Tour in Indianapolis, where he worked from 1973 to 1975. Wolfgang came to Los Angeles in 1975 and very quickly garnered the attention of the Hollywood elite as chef and eventually part owner of Ma Maison in West Hollywood. His dynamic personality and culinary brilliance that bridged tradition and invention made Ma Maison a magnet for the rich and famous, with Wolfgang as the star attraction. He had an innate understanding of the potential for California cuisine, and was pivotal in its rise to national attention during the late 1970s. From Ma Maison, Wolfgang went on to create his first flagship restaurant, Spago, originally located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip.

From its opening day in 1982, Spago was an instant success and culinary phenomenon. His early signature dishes, such as haute cuisine pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar, and Sonoma baby lamb with braised greens and rosemary, put him and Spago on the gourmet map, not just in Los Angeles but throughout the world. Wolfgang and Spago earned many accolades during its popular 18 years in West Hollywood, including winning the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, twice, in 1991 and 1998, and the James Beard Foundation Award for Restaurant of the Year in 1994. Wolfgang is the only chef to have won the Outstanding Chef of the Year Award two times. In 1983, following the success of Spago, Puck went on to open Chinois on Main in Santa Monica. His early exposure to Southern California's multicultural population intrigued him, inspiring him to fuse the Asian flavors and products of Koreatown, Chinatown, and Thaitown with his French- and California-based cuisine in a fine dining setting.

Chinois on Main brought diners a fresh and imaginative Asian-fusion menu that laid the groundwork for fusion cooking in America. In 1989, Wolfgang opened his third restaurant, Postrio, in the Prescott Hotel off San Francisco's Union Square. Postrio also draws upon the multi-ethnic nature of its surroundings. Its contemporary American cuisine, with its emphasis on local ingredients, continues to draw rave reviews in Northern California's highly competitive culinary market. In 1997, Wolfgang moved Spago to an elegant setting on Cañon Drive in Beverly Hills. His Beverly Hills menu blazed new ground, with a combination of updated Spago classics and newly conceived items created by the award-winning talents of Managing Partner/Executive Chef Lee Hefter and Executive Pastry Chef Sherry Yard. The seasonal menu also draws from Wolfgang's favorite childhood dishes, offering a selection of Austrian specialties such as Wienerschnitzel and Kaiserschmarren. Spago Beverly Hills recently garnered two coveted Michelin Stars, one of only three Los Angeles restaurants to achieve this accolade. In 2006, Wolfgang opened CUT, a sleek, contemporary steakhouse at the acclaimed Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel.

After only one year, CUT earned a prestigious Michelin star. Wolfgang has changed the way Americans cook and eat by mixing formal French techniques and Asian- and California-influenced aesthetics with the highest quality ingredients. He also has changed the face of dining in cities throughout the nation, first in Los Angeles, then in Las Vegas, where he was the first star chef to create a contemporary fine dining restaurant, paving the way for other celebrated chefs and the city's metamorphosis into a dining destination. After opening Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars in 1992, Wolfgang went on to open five additional restaurants including Chinois in the Forum Shops at Caesars in 1998, Postrio at The Venetian and Trattoria del Lupo in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in 1999, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at MGM Grand in 2004 and CUT at The Palazzo in 2008.

Since 2001, Wolfgang and his Fine Dining Group have opened restaurants across the United States from Atlantic City (Wolfgang Puck American Grille at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in 2006) to Maui (Spago at the Four Seasons Resort in 2001). These also include The Source in Washington, DC (2007), Wolfgang Puck Grille at MGM Grand Detroit (2007), Spago at The Ritz Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Colorado (2007), Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck at Reunion Tower in Dallas (2009) and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at L.A. Live (2009). Wolf Puck Restaurants - Wolfgang Puck Net Worth Wolf Puck Restaurants Read more... Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million. Wolfgang Puck was born in Austria and has an estimated net worth of $75 million dollars. An internationally famous chef, restaurateur, businessman, author, and actor, Wolfgang Puck oversees a vast cooking empi. Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born... Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million.

Wolfgang Puck Net Worth is $75 Million. Wolfgang Puck was born in Austria and has an estimated net worth of $75 million dollars. An internationally famous chef, restaurateur, businessman, author, and actor, Wolfgang Puck oversees a vast cooking empi Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions. He was born to Maria Worth and a butcher, who abandoned her before their child's birth. In 1956, Maria married Josef Puck, who adopted Puck. The marriage produced another son and two daughters. Puck learned cooking from his mother, who sometimes worked as a pastry chef. He trained as an apprentice under Raymond Thuilier at L'Oustau de Baumani`ere in Les Baux-de-Provence, at Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and at Maxim's Paris before moving to the United States in 1973 at age 25. After two years at La Tour in Indianapolis, Puck moved to Los Angeles to become chef and part owner at Ma Maison restaurant.

Following the 1981 publication of his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen...

Question: In which country was the celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck brn?
Answer: AUSTRIA